Name the mall site something, well, nice

Instead of calling the 17-acre, city-owned parcel in the middle of downtown “the failed mall site” or some variation on the phrase, city leaders are hoping to come up with a new name with a more positive spin.
They look at Adraien’s Landing in Hartford, named for an early Dutch explorer, and Blue Back Square in West Hartford, named for a Noah Webster book, and figure that Bristol ought to be able to come up with something unique as well.
To narrow it down, the Bristol Public Library is sponsoring a naming contest for children to come up with a trio of possibilities for the nonprofit downtown corporation to consider.
The youngster whose project name gets picked will walk away with $200 and the two runners-up will each get $100.
“This is going to be excellent,” said Frank Johnson, chairman of the Bristol Downtown Development Corp.
Generally, officials want to bury the negative feelings the community has for its failed mall, which is in the process of being demolished, by using a new name to symbolize a new, fresh beginning for the property.
Library Director Francine Petosa said the library agreed to take responsibility for running the contest. “We thought we could do it,” she said.
Contest forms and boxes are available at both of the city’s libraries. The deadline for entries is March 15.
John Leone, president of the Greater Bristol Chamber of Commerce, said the downtown corporation would like to have a name picked out before the pre-bidding session with developers at the end of March.
Officials admit, though, that a developer might well choose a different name for the project.
Leone said that young people might want to do some historical research on downtown to get some ideas.
“This would be a good family project,” Petosa said.
Gardner Wright, a member of the BDDC board, said he would like those putting in entries to explain why they chose the names they did.
“They could write a sentence or two about why they think it would be a good name,” Johnson said.
An anonymous donor is chipping in $200 for the contest and the chamber is tossing in $100 in “chamber bucks” that can be spent at establishments that belong to the Bristol chamber.
City Councilor Ken Cockayne said he was so pleased with the idea that he donated $100 to the contest as well. The lawyer for the BDDC also offered to give $100, which leaves it a little unclear where the extra $100 that was pledged is going.
The BDDC will consider the three top picks forwarded by the library, officials said, and then pick one of them.
“There’s only one winner,” said John Lodovico, a BDDC board member.
Johnson said it’s great that the library took on the assignment to run the contest.
He said it is “part of the heart of downtown” so it’s appropriate to have the library involved in something as important as naming the site.
For more information, call the Children’s Department at the Bristol Public Library at (860) 584-7787 ext. 2021.

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Copyright 2008. All rights reserved.
Contact Steve Collins at scollins@bristolpress.com